Yadrolla System Mingle

[lacyprincess]

Who: EVERYBODY
Broadcast: Yeah, sure, I guess
Action: The Fleet and the Yadrolla System
When: 4/29 - 6/8

[Hey, hey, look, we have a new system! Let's go compete in stuff and root for sportsball teams! System info is here!

GO WAVES!]

Comments

[hollystrike]

No. [With great amusement.] You have to keep them shut forever.

[Open wide and enjoy the view.]

[watermarks]

[ Heh. ]

That sounds like it will make for a very boring night. I can't see things through my feet.

[ She opens her eyes. ]

Wow. That's beautiful.

[hollystrike]

It will pass, I suppose. [She shakes her blanket out, folding it back on itself to make a comfy buffer from the cold stone beneath them.] I prefer it out where it's louder when I go star watching.

Is it all right?

[watermarks]

Well, it's not very loud... [ Katara teases gently, taking out her own blanket. Let's make a sandwich! She sits down on Katie's blanket. ] But I think the stars are shining really brightly to make up for it. It's a great spot, Katie. Thanks for taking us here.

[hollystrike]

[She smiles brightly in response, settling onto the blanket as well and putting the hamper between them. She brought little savoury cheese snacks and the more chocolate goodies, depending on your taste.]

I wonder if the stars are ever considerate. You'd think they'd realise people are trying to sleep.

[Please don't ever realise, stars.]

[watermarks]

I don't know. I sleep a lot better, I think, knowing that the stars are there, and that they're real.

[ The stars had not been, in Luceti. And the vast emptiness of space had been maddening. ]

The constellations look different here, but I guess they would be, since we're in a different spot.

[hollystrike]

[What an odd thing for her to say. Katie peers at her with faint concern.]

Do you have a lot of experience with stars not being real?

[watermarks]

In Luceti. There was only the sun. They manufactured an illusion for the night sky to keep from going mad.

[ A wry twist of her lips. ] One time they had the stars spell out, "Praise the Great One." That was so wrong, on so many levels.

[hollystrike]

[Well, that's... uh. Creepy is the most understated word.]

Was there a reason you couldn't see stars where you were? Some kind of interference?

[watermarks]

[ She shakes her head. ]

No, I mean... there were no stars. We were taken up into space once, and all there was out there was... darkness. If you looked into the emptiness for too long, it would start to do strange things to your mind. That's why they manufactured the fake stars for the planet. The empty sky and the lonely sun and moon were too much otherwise.

[hollystrike]

[Emptiness is a horrible thing, literal or metaphysical or imaginary.]

Did you ever find out why...?

[watermarks]

[ She shakes her head. ]

No. [ ... ] So it's really nice to be able to look up and see stars.

[hollystrike]

Well, we should look at them as much as we can, then. [She tips her head back to peer upward, smiling contentedly.]

[watermarks]

And this is a great spot to do it. [ She smiles as she glances back up at the stars, and, as so often happens when talking with Katie, just says what she's thinking. ] When we were traveling on Appa, we didn't usually go through the nigh. But when we did, the stars and the moon always felt so close... even so, view was nothing like this.

[hollystrike]

Travelling on Appa...? [That is a phrase that makes no sense but she suspects she'll very much like the explanation.]

[watermarks]

Appa is Aang's sky bison. [ She smiles and looks at Katie. ] He's a bison but... think... about the width of an Earth elephant, but a little broader, and just about as tall. But with six legs, and really fluffy fur.

[hollystrike]

Oh goodness, I want one. Was it nice, warm fluffy fur you could hide in for warmth?

[watermarks]

Hmm... it wasn't really long enough to hide in, but it was warm and fluffy. Almost too much at times - when he was shedding, he left a trail that led straight to us. [ As always, she shares a little more than she would normally with Katie. ] But it was soft and warm.

[hollystrike]

[She doesn't ask about the trail. Thanks to Sokka, she's got a reasonable idea of what life must have been like back home for the two of them.]

I suppose he's too big that he'd ever appear in a place like this.

[watermarks]

I don't know... he followed Aang to Luceti. [ She shrugs a little. ] But I hope he doesn't. He'd be miserable in the ships. He doesn't like enclosed spaces.

[hollystrike]

[Oh. There is that.]

Do you know they shrink animals sometimes? Imagine if you got an Appa the size of a cat.

[watermarks]

...he would be so cute!

[ A little bit of a squeeing at that, but then forced to admit: ] And he'd probably do better at that size, since the ships wouldn't seem so small to him.

[hollystrike]

He'd find the cargo bay nice and huge. You'd just have to carry himsometimes instead.

[watermarks]

I bet he'd get on with Licorice. They'd have fun.

curse you html

[hollystrike]

[She laughs.]

Maybe he could take Licorice for rides. She's adventurous, they'd make a terrifying team.